Fall Plowing and Draining— By v. E. Warren, 



Pennsyl" 



A SUBJECT OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO EVERY FARM AND GARDEN— HOW YOU CAN PERMANENTLY 

 IMPROVE YOUR SOIL, KILL INSECTS BY WHOLESALE METHODS AND MAKE BIGGER CROPS PAY THE BILL 



IF YOU have a piece of sod ground 

 which is to be put into garden or field 

 crops next year, it should be plowed some- 

 time between now and the first of December 

 in order to have it in the best available con- 

 dition in early spring. Any plot of ground 

 that is to be newly brought into cultivation 

 will benefit much by fall plowing. Plowing 

 must be done so as to completely invert the 

 sod, leaving it laid as flat as possible. This 

 means shallow plowing; there is no especial 

 advantage in deep plowing at this time of the 

 year. It is a good thing to spread any 

 animal fertilizer before the plowing; it not 

 only increases the amount of humus but it 

 actually hastens the rotting of the sod. 

 Early fall plowing is better than late fall, 

 and then the land may be gone over and 

 cross-plowed and harrowed in the late fall. 



Ground that has been in crops may be 

 fall plowed, and if insects have been prev- 

 alent, leave the ground ridged and the 

 weather will do much to lessen the brood 

 next year. Heavy ground can be plowed 

 deeply and left well ridged so as to expose 

 as great a surface as possible to the action 

 of frost. By next spring, the soil will have 

 been broken up and can be quickly brought 

 into condition to receive seed. Frost is one 

 of the greatest natural aids to soil cultivation. 



The amateur gardener usually misses the 

 great opportunity of fall preparation of his 

 ground. He lets it lie idle to become un- 

 duly compacted during the winter and pays 

 the price next spring in not being able to 

 make his garden as early as he might have 

 if thorough tillage had been done. New 

 ground in particular should be attended 

 to now; it is practically impossible to over- 



prepare and to over-dress new ground with 

 manure. Usually, too, there is an abundance 

 of time during September, October and 

 November; whereas in the two or three 

 weeks of early spring, everything piles up 

 at once and the same thorough and careful 

 attention cannot be given. 



Drainage is perhaps the one most important 

 factor in improving the majority of farm 

 lands, and none but the very driest and 

 lightest of soils will do otherwise than amply 

 repay for the cost of under-draining. Gen- 

 erally, tile draining will improve the crop 

 value the first year about five dollars an 

 acre, and is often regarded as actually im- 

 proving the land value about double that 

 amount. A drained land is earlier than an 

 undrained land because it is warmer, and it 

 is warmer because the surplus water passes 

 through the land and is led off through the 

 conduits, instead of remaining in the upper 

 lavers of the soil to be removed by evapo- 

 ration; and evaporation is always accom- 



Begin laying tile at the lowest point, and worK bacK- 

 wards. Use three-inch tile generally 



A home-made device for securing an even grade. 

 The degree of elevation is indicated on a scale 

 marked on the cross piece 



panied by the lowering of the temperature. 

 If you have land which is slightly wetter than 

 that of your neighbors or surrounding pro- 

 perty in the early spring, it will pay you well 

 to lay a system of drain tile this fall. 



Drain tile comes in various forms — round, 

 hexagon and horseshoe, the latter being 

 usually laid ort a course of boards so as to 

 make a thoroughly even bottom and to pre- 

 vent sinkage in uneven or specially loose 

 places in the soil. On a good average land,. 

 the round drain tile can be laid with perfect 

 success and is generally the best, because the 

 water will flow better in a rounded tile than 

 it will on the flat wood bottom of the horse- 

 shoe tile. 



The important thing in laying out a drain 

 system is to get a gradual flow to the lowest 

 point, or the outlet. This should be not less 

 than four inches per hundred feet, and on 

 level fields it can be easily accomplished by 

 making a system of drain ditches, which 

 may pass through the centre of the field or 

 at one end. Where there are diversified 

 levels, it may be necessary to dig the drains 

 according to the lay of the land and make 

 the entire system a combination of several 

 smaller systems opening ultimately into one 

 final main. Generally, in lots of average 

 condition and which will grow average 

 66 



Have you a piece of unproductive wet land liKe 

 this? It can be brought into cultivation by tile draining, 

 increasing its money value 



crops, it will be sufficient to lay the drains at 

 a distance of ioo feet and a depth of three 

 feet. Muck soils may need drains at seventy 

 or even sixty feet, and in the most tenacious 

 soils — heavy clays, for instance — experience 

 has shown that a 40-foot interval is even' 

 bit as effective as anything below that. 



Tile should not be laid less than two and 

 one-half feet deep and very rarely more than 

 four feet. When laying the tile, commence 

 digging the ditch at the lowest point, working 

 backwards to the highest point. Trie bottom 

 must be evenly made. The best method 

 of laying the tile is to imbed it in a packing 

 of loose stones where such are available, 

 and this affords an easy method of making 

 the flat bottom perfect. A plumb-line sus- 

 pended from an arm over the top of the 

 ditch, at measured intervals, may be used 

 to get the proper depth. Such a thing can 

 easily be made at home, and will answer the 

 purpose just as well as any of the specially 

 made instruments that are offered for sale. 



A simple, effective, home-made level for 

 determining the grade of a ditch for a drain 

 can be made as follows: Nail the ends of 

 two 6-inch boards ten feet long, so as to 

 make a right angle; then across the open 

 end of the triangle, nail another 6-inch board, 

 having the lower edge about a foot from the 

 ends of the boards. Cut off the ends of the 

 boards on a bevel, so that they will rest 

 evenly on the ground. Next drive a nail 

 into the apex of the triangle and to it tie a 

 line long enough so that when the triangle 

 is stood on its legs, the plumb-bob, which 

 you will tie on the other end of it, will 

 almost reach the ground. 



The centre must next be determined. To 

 do it, set the triangle up on its legs on a level 

 place and when the plumb-line comes to rest, 

 mark the place. A lead pencil mark will do, 

 but as it is liable to become obliterated by 

 the dirt, I have found a saw scurf one- 

 eighth of an inch deep to be more permanent. 



Now you know the grade which the bot- 

 tom of your ditch is going to be. Reproduce 



